Adjustable stand



June 6, 1950 EVANS ETAL 2,510,688

ADJUSTABLE STAND I Filed Jan. 20, 1948 I 6 -L; a

5 LL 6 E 3 1 ii? i I 25? 7 8 Z 4 4 :II/ /Z /0 8 7 U! n F17- 4 I INVENTORS I Ralph W Thomas Kenneth R. Evans F1 L3 BY Wfhfoy ATTORNEYS Patented June 6, 1950 Kenneth Russell Evan 5, Rocky River, and Ralph Thomas, Amherst, Ohio; said Evans assignor to Ernest E. Boyer, doing business as Boyer Industries, Cleveland, Ohio v4 Claims. a 1 a This invention relates to stands, and in particular to a vertically adjustable supporting stand.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a vertically adjustable stand of the positive displacement type adapted to carry considerable weight which is adjustableto an infinite number of vertical locations between the limits of its travel, without the use of ratchet, gear or pin locating mechanisms.

Another object is to provide a vertically adjustable stand of the positive displacement type,

utilizing a hollow piston operable within a cylinder and a load sustaining material flowable from 'said piston to said cylinder which is simply designed so that it has a minimum number of parts andcan therefore bep'roduced more economically than hasbeen done in the past.

A further object is to provide apositive displacement type stand designed and constructed so that the'load sustaining material will flow freely from the piston to the cylinder and return with a minimum of clogging or air locking.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description accompanied by, the drawings, in which:

Figure l is an elevational view of the stand, with parts broken away, to illustrate features of its construction; 7

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view, taken substantially on line 2 2 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of the stand; and

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the stand in one of its operating positions, with parts broken away, to illustrate the construction and operation.

Vertically adjustable stands of the positive dis placement type may briefly comprise a base member, a cylinder member, a hollow piston operable within said cylinder, a load supporting surface on'said piston and a load sustaining material fiowable from within said piston into said cylinder so that when said piston is raised with respect to said cylinder, the load sustaining material will flow into said cylinder to a suflicient height to support said piston.

In the drawings a preferred form of such a stand is illustrated and comprises a roughly conically shaped base member l which may be stamped or forged from a relatively heavy piece of sheet metal or otherwise formed to provide a sturdy solid base. At the top of the base a well or recess may be provided to accommodate an end of a tubular member 2 which forms a work Application January 20, 1948, Serial No. 3,216

2 ing cylinder. The cylinder 2 may be welded to the base member I while its end portion is disposed within the well in thebase member, thus affording an especially strong and secure connection between the cylinder and the base member. Disposed Within the cylinder '2 is a second tubular member or'piston 3 of smaller diameter than the cylinder member 2 and having a greater length so that when the second tubular member or piston 3 is inserted Within the cylinder 2, it will extend upwardly therefrom, as may be seen in Fig. 1. At its lower end the tubular member or piston 3 may have secured thereto a disk 4 of a diameter larger than that of the piston, but slightly smaller than the interior diameter of the cylinder 2. Thus, the disk 4 provides a'piston head having a sliding fit with the cylinder wall. At its opposite end the piston 3 may be provided with a member 5 which performs the functions of closing the upper end of the piston and providing a load supporting surface. Preferably this member is a strip of sheet metal of a width approximately corresponding to the exterior diameter of the piston and having its end portions which extend beyond the piston inclined upwardly so that the stand may be readily used to adequately support objects having either a flat or a curved undersurface.

At the upper end of the cylinder 2 a retaining member 6 may be provided. As shown in the drawings, the member 6 is a collar disposed within and secured to the mouth of the cylinder and having an inner, diameter only slightly larger than the diameter of the piston 3 so that it may have a sliding engagement with the exterior surface of the piston 3. The interior diameter of the retaining member is less than the diameter of the disk 4 on the piston so that the piston is prevented from being withdrawn from the cylinder.

The interior of the hollow piston 3 may be filled with a load supporting material 1 of any suitable nature. In the past sand has been often used and is satisfactory from the standpoint that it is substantially incompressible. However, it has beenfound that sand has a tendency, particularly when contaminated, to cake and it is highly objectionable for this reason. Metal balls or shot will also provide a very satisfactory load sustaining material, but since a large number of these are required, this is relatively expensive and unduly increases the cost of the stand. It is accordingly preferred to fill the piston 3 with small disks resulting from a punching operation, which can generally be bought as scrap and will radially inwardly of the wall of said hollow piston member.

2. An adjustable supporting stand which comprises a base member, a hollow cylindrical member extending upwardly from said base member, a hollow piston member slidably mounted within said cylindrical member, a cover member for the lower end of said hollow piston member disposed within said cylindrical member, a load supporting material of smooth surfaced regularly shaped particles carried in said piston, an aperture in said cover member opening into said cylinder to permit free flow of load supporting material from said piston to said cylinder when the piston is raised and from said cylinder to said piston when the stand is inverted, said aperture having portions extending to the wall of said hollow piston member, intervening supporting surfaces carried by said cover member between said apertured portions and extending radially inwardly of the wall of said hollow piston member, and normally open vents in said piston and said cylinder to facilitate free flow of said load supporting material between said piston and said cylinder.

3. A vertically adjustable stand which comprises a base member, a hollow tube secured to said base to form a cylinder closed at one end by a portion of said base member, a tubular member of less diameter than said cylinder member, a disk carried at one end of said tubular member, a load supporting surface secured at the other end of said tubular member whereby said tubular member with said disk and said load supporting member provide a, substantially closed piston movable in said cylinder, a free flowing load sustaining material disposed in said piston, apertured portions of said disk extending to the wall of said tubular piston member at spaced points about the circumference of said tubular piston member, supporting surfaces of said disk adjacent said apertured portions for engagement with said load supporting material to support said piston, and a restricted portion at the open end of said cylinder having sliding engagement with said piston, said restricted portion having a smaller diameter than said disk to prevent withdrawal of said piston member from said cylinder.

4. A vertically adjustable stand which comprises a base member, a hollow tube secured to said base to form a cylinder closed at one end by a portion of said base member, a tubular member of less diameter than said cylinder member, a disk carried at one end of said tubular member, a load supporting surface secured at the other end of said tubular member whereby said tubular member with said disk and said load supporting member provide a substantially closed piston movable in said cylinder, a free flowing loadsustaining material disposed in said piston, an aperture through said disk to facilitate flow of the load sustaining material between said piston and said cylinder, said aperture having the form of. a substantially triangularly shaped opening with the apices of said triangle disposed in the region of the piston wall and the sides of said triangularly shaped opening comprising chords on the head of said piston to provide flange portions which engage said load sustaining material and REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,765,200 Bullough June 17, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 8,871 Great Britain Apr. 23, 1908 

